The present invention relates to an adhesive tape to be applied to the surface of vertical members of automobile door sashes and a positioning apparatus for applying the tape.
Conventionally, automobile door sashes have been painted black or other colors in order to improve their appearance. However, painting not only requires additional manufacturing steps such as masking but also risks causing environmental problems due to the evaporation of solvent into the atmosphere. Recently, to overcome these problems, colored adhesive tape made of vinyl chloride is being used instead of painting. The application of such adhesive tapes is generally carried out in the following manner. A skilled worker, using only the naked eye, attaches one end of the adhesive tape to a specific portion of the door sash, and then presses the tape along the sash with a squeegee or the like.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 338627/1993 describes a tape positioning apparatus 100 which facilitates the application of an adhesive tape to a door sash as shown in FIG. 5. The mechanism of this tape positioning apparatus 100 is as follows. A horizontal member H of a door sash is tightly held between two guide members (not shown) and the tape positioning apparatus 100 is moved along the horizontal member H in the direction of the arrow to apply an adhesive tape T.
However, in the case of applying an adhesive tape by hand, one must decide the positioning and direction of the adhesive tape relative to the door sash based on visual observation. In this case, one needs to carefully position the adhesive tape relative to the vertical member while comparing both ends of the adhesive tape. Such work requires considerable time and can not be sped up in order to shorten the cycle time of the production line.
The above-mentioned tape positioning apparatus 100 also has problems. Since the two guide members are at a fixed distance from each other, the tape positioning apparatus is compatible with the constant width horizontal member H but not with the vertical member V which has a gradually-changing width.
To solve these problems, the present invention was made. An object of the present invention is to provide an adhesive tape which can be quickly, easily and accurately applied to the surface of vertical members of door sashes. Another object is to provide a positioning apparatus for applying the tape.
To achieve these objects, the present invention provides a positioning apparatus for applying an adhesive to the surface of vertical members of automobile door sashes, which comprises:
a main body having a vertical member contact portion and a horizontal member contact portion which contact with go the inner surface of the vertical member and the inner surface of the horizontal member, and an engagement portion having a plurality of engagement projections to engage with a plurality of through-holes in the adhesive tape and arranged to be positioned above the vertical member through contact between the vertical member contact portion and the vertical member and between the horizontal member contact portion and the horizontal member;
a holding member swingably mounted on the main body to tightly hold the horizontal member between itself and the horizontal member contact portion by the force of a spring; and
an adjustment means for adjusting the position and inclination of the engagement portion relative to the surface of the vertical member.
Preferably, the main body of the positioning apparatus comprises an engagement member having the engagement portion, a support member having the vertical member contact portion and the horizontal member contact portion, and the holding member mounted on the support member. Preferably, the adjustment means comprises an elastic body interposed between the engagement member and the support member, and a plurality of bolts with which the engagement member is fixed to the support member opposing the elastic force of the elastic body.
The adjustment means may have a structure enabling positional adjustment of the vertical member contact portion relative to the horizontal member contact portion.
Preferably, the holding member is roughly L-shaped when seen from the side and comprises a holding board portion for tightly holding the horizontal member between itself and the horizontal member contact portion and an operation board portion mounted in a roughly perpendicular direction relative to the holding board; the L shaped holding member is pivotally supported at its corner by the main body and when the operation board and the main body are pinched together against the force of the spring, the space between the holding board and the horizontal member contact portion is increased.
Preferably, the holding board is provided with rollers at the front edge.
By using these positioning apparatuses of the invention, an adhesive tape can be applied quickly and accurately as compared with the application of the same tape by hand because the adjustment means of these positioning apparatuses facilitates the positioning and directional adjustment of the adhesive tape during the attachment of one end of the tape, whereas in conventional manual procedures, positioning must be accomplished by comparing the ends of the adhesive tape.
In addition, using these positioning apparatuses, adhesive tape can easily be applied even to a vertical member having a gradually-changing width, which is difficult to achieve with conventional positioning apparatuses.
The adhesive tape applied to the surface of vertical members of a door sash using the positioning apparatus has a protective film releasably attached to the outer surface and an adhesive layer formed on the inner surface. The adhesive tape comprises three separate portions consisting of a main portion to be attached to the surface of the vertical members, a fitting portion having a plurality of through-holes to engage with the plurality of engagement projections and positioned above the main portion, and a positioning portion having a contour matching the portion of the door near the base of the vertical member and positioned below the main portion, the three portions being integrated by means of a protective film applied.
This adhesive tape has the following advantage. After the main portion is applied to the vertical member using said positioning apparatus, the unnecessary portions, i.e., the fitting portion and the positioning portion, can be easily removed along with the protective film.